Disasters Change People, For A While

October 16, 2005|By SUSAN CAMPBELL

If you are a student of history, the catastrophe that was Katrina has a familiar ring to it. A horrible event was forecast. People who trusted authority figures and had the means took action to protect themselves. Those who didn't stayed put.

The disaster struck and, in this case, washed away the veneer of niceties with which America discusses race and poverty. Officialdom stumbled, leaving underprivileged citizens stranded. The finger-pointing began before fresh water or electricity was restored. Parts of the affected area languished.

On Tuesday evenings at Eastern Connecticut State University, Emil Pocock teaches a course called ``Disasters in America.'' To qualify as part of the curriculum, the event must include loss of life and destruction of human property. Included are catastrophes like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the 1944 Hartford circus fire and the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, among others.

Katrina has been added to the list, although Pocock is hard-pressed to replace the disasters he already explores in class. He says sheepishly, ``The ones I have I like.'' Instead, he has folded Katrina into every lecture. It is hard to ignore the country's greatest disaster, in terms of human and property loss. Each event allows students a new venue for discussing societal values, but the disasters also bring a road map of paths worn deep by so many people repeating the same mistakes over centuries. Society examines its soul for a moment, and then it moves on, not drastically changed by the event.

``As horrible as the disaster was, it was very familiar to me,'' said Pocock. ``My wife would ask, `What's going to happen next?' and I would say, `Looting and fire.''' Katrina's magnitude was surprising, but the bumbling response wasn't, said Pocock, who has taught at Eastern for 19 years.

``My wife asked about the looting, and I said I hoped the police didn't shoot,'' said Pocock. ``I know some police officers took a much more measured approach. Then you saw the people holding TVs on top of their heads out of the water.

"I also understood that. This is an example of a crisis leveling some deep undercurrents in society." Pocock said. "Here were people who are poor and underprivileged. They will never have a fine house or a fine car, and so the frustration comes out. We privileged people say it's stealing.''

Pocock, who says he's always looking for new ways to study American history, had been thinking about disasters and their effect on society, and after 9/11, he began assembling notes. Although that was his catalyst, Pocock limits his discussion to natural disasters, not human.

Disasters are particularly telling because they eliminate surface niceties and reveal a society's true nature. For this country, part of that nature is the desire to help, even when it's inappropriate. ``The Red Cross gets tons of clothing'' it can't use, said Pocock. ``They must understand those things are given to make the giver feel they are participating. They are expressing their emotions, and they will feel less horrible.''

Although people are returning to the urban areas slower than expected, Pocock believes many eventually will return. When students ask him why anyone would want to live in a flood-prone (or wildfire- or earthquake-prone) area, he explains: ``personal sense of risk management.''

Many college-age people are killed in car accidents, but, said Pocock: ``Does that change their behavior? Young people still speed, drink and use a cellphone while driving.

``People want to live on a beach, they want to live with a view. As a nation we don't want to be pushed by anything. We are going to rebuild. That's supposed to show courage. We do it all the time.''

What's next? Towns will be rebuilt, and people will return. Pocock suggests building houses on stilts in flood-prone areas, but most likely what will go up are the same shotgun shacks the waters took. That's what always happens. Susan Campbell is at Campbell@courant.com or 860-241-6454.